TAKEAWAYS in West Yorkshire have been slammed – for selling lamb curries made of beef.

Checks by consumer watchdogs found that almost half the lamb curries tested contained beef – a much cheaper meat.

Now they have called for action, as they fear growing protests from customers on religious and cultural grounds.

Trading Standards Officers carried out spot checks on takeaways across the county, including Huddersfield and Halifax, to check the authenticity of the ‘lamb’ used in curries.

Sixteen samples of ‘lamb curry’ have been analysed so far by the West Yorkshire Public Analyst and, of those, seven have actually been found to be made of beef.

The Food Safety Act 1990 makes it a criminal offence to mislead consumers about the food they buy.

Officers found Lamb Bhuna, Lamb Balti, Lamb Sheesh Kebab and Lamb Donner Kebab to be made of beef. Although some takeaway menus describe the curries simply as ‘meat’, when asked, the staff have falsely described the meat as ‘lamb’.

Trading Standards office David Lodge said: “Lamb is a more expensive meat than beef, one trader reporting that lamb costs £13 per kilogram, whereas beef is only £5 per kilogram.

“This provides a strong incentive to switch to beef in order to keep costs down.

“Unfortunately, those restaurants and takeaways which have started using beef are misleading their customers if they don’t change their menus.

“Not only that, they are gaining an unfair advantage over competitors who are complying with the law.

“Although some consumers may not be concerned, others may prefer lamb over beef or they may wish to avoid beef for religious reasons.

“It is a legal requirement to accurately describe food that is being sold.

“We are continuing our investigations and it may be that people are prosecuted.”

Clr Andrew Pinnock , of the Trading Standards Committee, said: “It is understandable that takeaways try to minimise costs, but they must not mislead their customers.